Abstract
Neither general education nor special education now offers appropriate and therapeutic treatment to all children and youth with emotional or behavioral disorders. Substantial improvements are needed in both general and special education, but the needed changes may not be those suggested by many proponents of school reform. Some suggested reforms are tenuously connected to reality in ways that suggest comedic intent or thought disorder, yet audiences typically respond as if these suggestions were both serious and rational. The disorder of school reform may be as much a problem of inappropriate audience response as it is a matter of nonsensical suggestions. One possible response to serious but highly questionable suggestions for reform is articulation of postulates on which a comprehensive educational service delivery system might be based. I present eight such postulates and correlates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blount, W. F., & Kean, T. H. (1991, August 19).Designs for a new generation of American schools: A request for proposals. Arlington, VA: New American Schools Development Corporation.
Braaten, S., Kauffman, J. M., Braaten, B., Polsgrove, L., & Nelson, C. M. (1988). The regular education initiative: Patent medicine for behavioral disorders.Exceptional Children, 55, 21–28.
Bracey, G. W. (1991). Why can't they be like we were?Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 104–117.
Carson, C. C., Huelskamp, R. M., & Woodall, T. D. (1991, May 10).Perspectives on education in America: Annotated briefing — third draft. Albuquerque, NM: Systems Analysis Department, Sandia National Laboratories.
Feniak, C. A. (1988). Labelling in special education: A problematic issue in England and Wales. International Journal of Special Education, 3, 117–124.
Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (1991). Framing the REI debate: Abolitionists versus conservationists. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 241–255). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Gartner, A., & Lipsky, D. K. (1987). Beyond special education: Toward a quality system for all students.Harvard Educational Review, 57, 367–395.
Gartner, A., & Lipsky, D. K. (1989).The yoke of special education: How to break it. Rochester, NY: National Center on Education and the Economy.
Gerber, M. M., & Semmel, M. I. (1984). Teacher as imperfect test: Reconceptualizing the referral process.Educational Psychologist, 19, 137–148.
Goodlad, J. I. (1990).Teachers for our nation's schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., Lloyd, J. W., & McKinney, J. D. (Eds.) (1988). Questions about the regular education initiative.Journal of Learning Disabilities,21(1) [special issue].
Hocutt, A. M., Martin, E. W., & McKinney, J. D. (1991). Historical and legal context of mainstreaming. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues and models (pp. 17–24). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Kauffman, J. M. (1989). The regular education initiative as Reagan-Bush education policy: A trickle-down theory of education of the hard-to-teach.Journal of Special Education, 23, 256–278.
Kauffman, J. M. (1991). Restructuring in sociopolitical context: Reservations about the effects of current reform proposals on students with disabilities. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative Perspectives on concepts. issues, and models (pp. 57–66). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Kauffman, J. M., & Hallahan, D. P. (in press). Toward a comprehensive service delivery system: The necessity of identity, focus, and authority for special education and other compensatory programs. In J. I. Goodlad & T. C. Lovilt (Eds.),Integrating general and special education. Columbus, OH: Merrill Macmillan.
Kauffman, J. M., & Trent, S. C. (1991). Issues in service delivery for students with learning disabilities. In B. Y. L. Wong (Ed.),Learning about learning disabilities (pp. 465–481). New York: Academic Press.
Keogh, B. K. (1988). Improving services for problem learners: Rethinking and restructuring.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 19–22.
Lipsky, D. K., & Gartner, A. (1987). Capable of achievement and worthy of respect: Education for handicapped students as if they were full-fledged human beings.Exceptional Children, 54, 69–74.
Lipsky, D. K., & Gartner, A. (1991). Restructuring for quality. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 43–57). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Morine-Dershimer, G. (1989, Fall). Standing in the shadows at the education summit.Teaching and Teacher Education Newsletter, 1.
National Center on Education and the Economy. (1989).To secure our future. Rochester, NY: Author.
Peacock Hill Working Group. (1991). Problems and promises in special education and related services for children and youth with emotional or behavioral disorders.Behavioral Disorders, 16, 299–313.
Reynolds, M. C. (1991). Classification and labeling. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 29–41). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Semmel, M. I., Abernathy, T. V., Butera, G., & Lesar, S. (1991). Teacher perceptions of the regular education initiative.Exceptional Children, 57, 9–23.
Singer, J. D. (1988). Should special education merge with regular education?Educational Policy, 2, 409–424.
Stainback, W., & Stainback, S. (1991). A rationale for integration and restructuring: A synopsis. In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 2263–239). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Walker, H. M., & Bullis, M. (1991). Behavior disorders and the social context of regular class integration: A conceptual dilemma? In J. W. Lloyd, A. C. Repp, & N. N. Singh (Eds.),The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 75–93). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore.
Wang, M. C., Reynolds, M. C., & Walberg, H. J. (1986). Rethinking special education.Educational Leadership, 44(1), 26–31.
Wang, M. C., Reynolds, M. C., & Walberg, H. J. (1988). Integrating the children of the second system.Phi Delta Kappan, 70, 248–251.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This article is based on a keynote presentation at the First Annual Conference on Multiple Perspectives on Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance, Virginia Beach, VA, October 8, 1991. Portions of the paper are based on Kauffman and Hallahan (in press).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kauffman, J.M. School reform disorder: Alternative audience responses to nonsense. J Behav Educ 2, 159–176 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00947118
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00947118